The Financial Services Agency showed the details of redress of disputes concerning financial services transaction on 16th June 2008. The result was submitted on the conference of the Association Tackling with Financial Services Disputes. An article of the Asahi Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun reported on 18th June 2008.
The association was established by representatives of industries and consumers in addition to the government in 2001; it is formed by 18 financial industry groups such as banking, securities, insurance and so on; it provides the Alternative Dispute Resolution concerning Financial Services. The association held his meeting on 17th June 2008; at the meeting, the status quo of claims and resolutions in 2007 were reported.
According to the report, the number of claims was 164,400 and the figure of cases allegedly causing damages was 31,518, whereas it was 13,742 in 2003; the growth of claims of financial services was triggered by rash of refusing payment of insurance.
The largest number of claimes was concerning indemnity insurance in which the number was 92,975; and the figure of application to the ADR was 10,148 in a life insurance and was 17,447 in an accident insurance.
However, the figure of cases that are dealt by the grievance committee is extremely in lower level; only 387 cases was filed to the ADR by virtue of not resolved by private negotiations. It means that only 1 % of claims were handled through the ADR . 99 percent of claims are treated by each member companies; the Japan Damage Insurance Association, who received about 17,000 claims in 2007, asked the committee to review only 0.1 percent of complaints he received; the Life Insurance Association sought the comittee to review 0.3 percent of the total complaint received. Whilst the number of complaints to the Bankers Association are 2,174, only one case was asked judgement to the committee by the association.
These associations explain that member companies could have been solving complaints from customers effectively through inner procedures. But, these solutions might not take account of recommendations and assistance by specialist; they are based on judgements by in-house officers. it is still vague what sort of complaints are received by the associations and what relieves are provided to customers; the rationality of these solusions also still unlcear.
Regarding claims concerning commodity futures transactions, about 60 percent of claims are treated through a mediation procedure of disputes resolution committee.
